The nationwide drug shortage shows Canada needs an early-warning system to detect supply problems and a stockpile of medications to get through emergencies, says the group representing the country's anesthesiologists.

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OTTAWA — The nationwide drug shortage shows Canada needs an early-warning system to detect supply problems and a stockpile of medications to get through emergencies, says the group representing the country's anesthesiologists.

The appeal by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society comes as the Conservative government indicated its support for an NDP motion Wednesday calling for a national strategy to deal with shortages of essential drugs.

The motion also called on pharmaceutical companies to promptly report to Health Canada any anticipated disruptions in production and for the federal drug regulator to speed up the approval process of drugs that are in short supply.

The Conservatives plan to support the motion with a minor adjustment.

Critics have charged that the current system, which relies on drug companies to voluntarily report anticipated slowdowns or shortages, is failing to ensure a safe and secure pharmaceutical supply chain.

"We need a system of vigilance on the drug supply that tells us as soon as possible that there's a problem," said Dr. Rick Chisholm, president of the society representing 2,500 anesthesiologists.

While the current shortage was triggered by production problems at a Quebec pharmaceuticals plant owned by Sandoz Canada, future disruptions could be the result of other crises, Chisholm said.

"This time, we're talking about a factory going down. What would happen if we had something like the earthquake and tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan? Or the recent tornadoes in the U.S.? Or an ice storm? These (events) can affect our ability to care for patients at a time when we may find patient numbers increase," said Chisholm, a New Brunswick anesthesiologist.

"I think a strategic stockpile of medications is something that we should be looking at."

Canadian hospitals rely on a sole supplier, Sandoz, for 90 per cent of all the injectable painkillers and anesthetics that are used daily in operating rooms, intensive-care units and emergency departments.

The shortage has led to cancelled surgeries in Quebec and Vancouver, which on Tuesday became the first Canadian city to stop performing elective open-heart surgeries during the drug shortage.

A spokesman for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority later said the cancellations turned out not to be necessary. Nonetheless, nine surgeries were cancelled because of a miscommunication among hospital officials about how much of a drug required for heart surgery was actually in stock, said Gavin Wilson.

Both Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul's Hospital resumed cardiac surgeries Wednesday and those patients put on hold are being rescheduled, said Wilson.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said officials from her department are reviewing applications from 15 potential providers that could fill the supply gap left by Sandoz.

However, HealthPro Canada, the country's largest drug buyer for hospitals, has warned that even if alternate suppliers are found, they would need months to gear up production, meaning the shortage could last for as long as a year.

HealthPro, which buys medications in bulk for 255 hospitals and health authorities, and MedBuy, which purchases drugs for 30 health agencies, have been working with federal officials to find new suppliers.

Since February, when a production slowdown and a fire disrupted deliveries of essential drugs from Sandoz's plant in Boucherville, Que., governments have been quarrelling about how the shortage was allowed to happen.

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